Insulated terminal member.



H. R. EDGECOMB.

.INSULATED TERMINAL MEMBER.

APPLlCATiON FILED MAR- L 1912.

Patented May 2, 1916.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY R. EDGEGOMB, OF EDGEWOOD PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVAN'IA.

INSULATED TERMINAL MEMBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY R. EDGE- Come, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Insulated Terminal Members, of

' from the casings and other parts of the v devices in connection with which the said leads or conductors are employed, and it has for its object to provide an insulating joint between a conductor and the member through which it passes which shall be permanently oil and water-proof and vacuum tight, and which shall remain intact and effective with extreme variations of temperature or other conditions that effect expansion and contraction.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are sectional views of as many different embodiments thereof.

The present invention is adapted to be employed in connection with devices having metallic or other casings or containers, such as vapor rectifiers for alternating currents and electrically heated cooking utensils, between which and the outgoing leads it is desirable and usually necessary to provide vacuum tight, oil or water-proof insulating joints.

In the accompanying drawings, a casing 1 is shown as provided with an opening or aperture through which one or more outgoing leads 2 project, the opening being preferably, though not necessarily, in the form of a tubular portion or extension 3. Each conductor 2 projects through an opening in an insulating disk or block 4 that has at least one recess 4 or 4: in each or in one face around the conductor and is disposed across the casing aperture.

In Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the insulating block is shown as provided with a plurality of recesses in each of its faces, and, in Fig. 2, it is provided with such recesses in only one face, the other face being in engagement with a flange 5 upon the conductor and with a ring or shoulder 6 that is formed integral with the tubular extension 3. Sufficient clearances are left between the insulating block and the casing and between it and the leads 2 to permit of ready expansion and contraction of the parts without binding or unduly straining the insulating blocks.

The insulating block recesses 4 that are adjacent to the leads are provided for the reception of the larger ends of suitably resilient sleeves 7, the other ends of which are preferably reduced and suitably joined to the leads by welding or brazing, or in any other manner whereby oil, water and vacuum tight joints are provided. The outer recesses 4 in the insulating blocks are provided for the reception of the ends of other sleeves 8 that are either formed integral with or are extensions of, the casings, or are formed from separate pieces that are joined at their opposite ends to the casings. In each of Figs. 1 and 2, the sleeve 8 that projects into the annular recess 4 is in the form of a separate piece that is joined to the extension 3 of the casing, the end that projects into the recess 4 being of smaller diameter than the end that is united to the part 3.

In each of Figs. 3 and 4, a part of the easing projects into the annular recess {P in one side of the insulating block, and a suitable sleeve is united to the casing and projects into the annular recess 4 in the other side of the block. In Fig. 3, also, the outer ends ofthe leads 2 are provided with terminals or plugs 9 that are adapted to be inserted into corresponding receptacles (not shown) which constitute the terminals of an electric circuit, and the sleeves which project into the recesses 4 in the insulating block are formed integralwith the said plugs. During the assembling of the parts, as thus set forth, a suitable flux is placed in the recesses 4 and 4 around the ends of the sleeves that project. thereinto, and the parts are then heated sufliciently to melt the flux and cause it to seal the joints between the sleeves and the insulating block. To this end, any suitable flux which will adhere both to the metal sleeves and to the insulating block may be employed. The insulating blocks are preferably composed of porcelain, and it will, therefore, usually be found advantageous to employ a suitable porcelain flux or material. Obviously, various insulating materials and sealing gums, such as molded hard rubber, rubber cement, bakelite, bakelite cement, and the between the outgoing lead and the casing of the device.

It is quite a. dillicult matter to provide a seal between metal and insulating material, such as that at 4, which will remain tight and which will, at the same time, have great mechanical strength, especially in tension. It will be noted that, by my construction, there is a positive mechanical interlocking between the two members owing to the fact that the metal sleeves are seated in the annular recesses in the insulating member. This mechanical engagement serves to take care of the greater portion of the mechanical strains and leaves the sealing material free to maintain the vacuum. It will be noted that, whether a metallic sleeve expands or contracts relatively to the insulating material, distortion of the portion of the sleeve that projects into the recess is prevented by sealing material acting in compression and, accordingly, it is impossible to impart a serious tensile strain to the sealed union in the normal operation of the device.

While several different embodiments of my invention have been shown, it will, of course, be understood that it is capable of adaptation to other uses than those mentioned and specifically illustrated herein, and I intend that all such modifications should be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor extending through the casing aperture. of an insulating block disposed across the aperture and having an opening loosely fitting the conductor and a surrounding recess. and a resilient sleeve having one end united to the conductor and having its other end seated in said recess.

2. The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor extending through the casing aperture, of an insulating block disposed across the aperture and provided with an opening loosely fitting said conductor and with recesses surrounding the conductor, and resilient means united respectively to the casing and to the conductor and extending into the recesses in the block.

3. The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture, of an insulating block disposed across the casing aperture and provided with an opening loosely fitting said conductor, and resilient means united respectively to the casing and to the conductor and positively engaging and sealed to the insulating block.

4. The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture, of an insulating block surrounding the conductor and disposed across the casing aperture, and resilient sleeves respectively united to the casing and to the conductor and positively engaging and sealed to the insulating block.

The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture, of an insulatin block surrounding the conductor and dlsposed across the casing aperture, and sleeves respectively united to the casing and to the conductor and positively engaging and sealed to the insulating block.

6. The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture, of an insulating block disposed across the casing aperture and provided with an opening for the conductor and with annular recesses located respectively adjacent to the conductor and to the casing, and resilient sleeves respectively united to the casing and to the conductor and extending into and sealed in the corresponding annular recesses in the insulating block.

7 The combination with an apertured casing, and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture, of an insulating block disposed across the casing aperture and provided with an opening for the conductor and with surrounding recesses respectively located adjacent to the conductor and to the casing, and resilient sleeves having opposite ends of different dimensions that are respectively seated and sealed in the recesses in the insulating block and joined to the conductor and to the casing.

S. The combination with an apertured casing. and a conductor projecting through the casing aperture. of an insulating block disposed across the casing aperture and provided with an opening for the conductor and with surrounding recesses respectively located adjacent to the conductor and to the casing. a resilient sleeve having a relatively large end seated in one of the recesses in at-he insulating block and a srnail en& joineci in the conductor, and a resilient sleeve having a relatively small end seated in the other recess in the block and a large end united; ho the casing.

Q. The combination with an apertured casing", and a conductor projecting through ihe casing aperture, of an insulating block loosely fitting the conductor, and a resilient 10 geteicoat united to the conductor enci posi tively engaging and seaiedi to the insulating block.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of February, 1912.

HENRY n. EDGECOMB.

Witnesses:

A. M. LUNDY, B. B. HINES, 

